Muslim society battles stigma attached to 'madrasahs'

Muslim society battles stigma attached to 'madrasahs'

Mehru Jaffer, Contributor, Jakarta

To mention the words Muslim and madrasah today is to watch a
chill run down the spines of many people. After all, Muslims from
madrasas, or schools of religious learning, are held responsible
for the terrible attacks on Manhattan and Washington.

Madrasahs have always existed in Muslim society. During
enlightened times, the concept of a madrasah as an institution
remained separate from the mosque, and the school was expected to
supply state administrators and judges to society.

These days the story is slightly different. Thousands of
madrasahs around the world are said to take in children as early
as the tender age of six to teach them Arabic and to recite the
Koran. Added to the curriculum is the concept of the mujahideen,
or holy warrior, whose salvation lies in being ever ready to
stand up for the call to jihad, or holy war.

This is why the madrasah has become a breeding ground for a new
brand of battle-hardened soldiers prepared to take the lives of
others and give their own in the name of Islam.

But when Egypt was one of the most advanced Muslim countries
in the world, each town had between one and seven madrasahs
teaching Islamic law and theology, and providing the country with
all its teachers.

The spirit at a madrasah at that time was to know more. For
then it was believed that to know more meant to see further
evidence of God. The same can be said of the original concept of
the pesantren, or religious boarding schools, found mainly in the
rural areas of Indonesia. Here information about spiritual values
is included in all teachings, something many feel is ignored by
Western education.

Wanting to continue the work done at madrasahs for centuries
and to strengthen the bond between local Muslims and Muslims from
abroad, including Australia, America and England, the Jakarta
International Muslim Society (JIMS) was started in 1998 by Luqman
Hakim Landy, an Australian.

At first Luqman was interested in the art and culture of
Indonesia, before he converted to Islam and was inspired to work
in the field of educating young Muslims, especially in rural
areas. His aim remains to put into practice the words of the
Prophet Muhammad, who insisted that the search for knowledge is a
sacred duty imposed upon every Muslim.

Today JIMS supervises nearly 100 madrasahs, mostly in southern
Banten, with 315 teachers educating over 10,000 children. The
foundation terms its efforts modest so far, but hopes to expand
its program of providing a balanced education to many more
Muslims at the grassroots level. Yet another objective is to
arouse in Muslim children the spirit of jihad, one of the most
misused and frightful concepts of Islam.

Meant to be a constant struggle for justice without
kidnapping, killing, placing bombs in public places and
committing other evil deeds that go against all decent human
behavior, the supreme jihad is described by Prophet Muhammad as
one that is first and foremost directed against oneself, against
one's own ego, greed and insatiable desires.

It is this jihad that JIMS is teaching to Muslim children in
the heartland of West Java.